Oh My! More Book Advent

So this task of blogging about the advent days seems a little daunting to me.  It is challenging enough for me to get all the activities ready the day before for Thomas to open, much less recording it all.  I am glad that I am doing it because I forget things very quickly and want to be able to look back on this.  So here it goes.

Day 4 - Christmas Tree Day - Dec. 3

Today the book that we read was, Mr. Willouby's Christmas Tree.  This is a really cute and fun book about how a wealthy man's gigantic christmas tree became a tree for many less fortunate families.  We bought this book a few years ago and we have really enjoyed it and have made it a tradition to read when we put up our tree.

We had two different Christmas tree crafts today.  First, we made popsicle stick Christmas trees.  To make it easy, we used markers to color the sticks and then glued some rhinestones on for decoration.  I was actually really surprised how well Carter participated in this craft.  He was very adamant that he do it all himself and I think it turned out very cute.

While Carter was sleeping, we did the second Christmas tree craft together.  This tree turned out very cute, but requires assembly before hand.  Thomas had fun coloring the star and decorating the tree with rhinestones.  Here is the link on the how to: http://www.thatartistwoman.org/2008/11/how-to-make-mini-christmas-trees.html

Day #5 - True Meaning of Christmas - Dec. 4

Since it is Sunday, I thought we should do something that is centered more on the Savior and the true meaning of Christmas.  So, today we read, Mortimer's Christmas Manger and Christmas in a Manger.  I absolutely love Mortimer's Christmas Manger and think it is a great Christmas book for kids age 4-6.  It is about a mouse who decides that his little mouse hole is too cramped and needs a new home.  He ventures out into the living room and finds a creche that the family had set up.  Mortimer thinks that would be the perfect home for him and moves all of the statues out, including the baby Jesus.  He even makes the manger his bed.  Mortimer eventually realizes who baby Jesus is and feels badly about taking his bed.  Every time Mortimer moved the statues out, Thomas would say "thats not nice at all."  In the end, Mortimer puts baby Jesus back in his bed and begins to search for another place to live.  He was very excited when he finds a gingerbread house just his size.  It was really sweet when Thomas told me that Mortimer was blessed for doing the right thing.  I also think that it illustrated how we need to show reverence when we are thinking and talking about the Savior. 

For our craft today we made a clay pot Mary, Joseph, and baby Jesus.  I let the kids paint the pots and the heads and then I had to assemble it.  It was so cute watching them carry all three figures up the stairs to put in their room.  Here is where I found this idea: http://www.latter-dayhomeschooling.com/2010/11/clay-pot-nativity.html

Thomas insisted on making his own faces.  

Carter's set he made.